Do you know their expectations

At the most recent meeting you were in, or you led or facilitated, did you find out what people's expectations of the meeting were?

I know we're often under time pressure - and senior leadership pressure - to 'just get started' with the meeting, but asking about people's expectations is still one of the best things you can do in the early parts of a meeting.

Rather than worrying about hidden agendas popping up during the meeting, or struggling throughout the meeting to keep things on track, finding out about expectations up front is a brilliant pre-emptive move.

Don't downplay or devalue it; it really does help get a lot of information 'out on the table' and helps get clear about why we're all here.

We have expectations at restaurants, of holidays, at weddings and of training, books, customer service and relationships. Why not expectations of where our time is being requested - the workplace meeting?

Spend a little time early on in your next meeting hearing people's expectations, and you'll soon find out if it's going to be a big job to get everyone on the same page, or if you're nearly, almost, already there.

End 'all-talk' meetings

Travelling on a Melbourne tram yesterday, I was riding past a business office not far from where I live. One of the company's meeting rooms faces the street, so I always look in as we pass by to see what they're doing in their meetings.

Of the many, many times I've gone past, they seem to always be:

- sitting at the table,

- looking at each other,

- talking at or with each other.

A fairly standard meeting. I call it an 'all-talk' meeting. They're not looking at anything; just each other.

Sure, eye contact and connection is important but meetings that are all-talk are worse in terms of productivity, engagement, clarity and decision-making.

If a 'common point of visual context' was used - a visual something... anything for them to look at - productivity would peak! A visual on the wall, a whiteboard, a flip chart, heck use the window!

When we're making sense of information and all we use is each other, we miss out on the opportunity to find and build commonality.

Meetings give us information overload; then we go for relief, distraction ...and we switch off.

Shift your meetings from 'all talk' by adding 'some visual'. It's plenty better!

Everyone’s got note pads but no one is making sense

A meeting room I was in recently had a table with 8 people seated at it. Each person had arrived at the meeting with a collection of props and belongings:

- a water bottle

- their ID/security card

- their mobile device

- notepad and pen.

The notepad and pen - yes, an analogue tool, but powerful nonetheless.

Everyone in the meeting was writing their own notes down. Their own insights, their own wording, their own triggers for ideas, their own recollection.

It was very singular, individual even though it was a group meeting. Great! They’re making sense of things, but oh no ...they're doing it alone. Someone says something, then everyone’s head drops down and they all write it down in their own notepad, their own 'map' of the world they're talking about.

We’re individuals trying to work this stuff out as a group.

Sensemaking - it can be done alone or better... together.

Rather than everyone looking at their own 'map', make a group map, a central map on a whiteboard or flipchart.

More progress is made in uncertainty when we have a common point of visual context. 

The cost of distraction

Checking your phone during a meeting is a productivity, focus and attention killer.

We think we can be present in the meeting AND scroll, check and read … but no.

Our IQ drops and we develop ‘attentional blindness’.

We lose the ability to judge what information is valuable or important. It’s probably why we think some speakers deliver boring segments, meetings have boring parts or workshops have boring sections. But shock, horror… it may not be boring it all!

It’s possible our ability to make sense has been interrupted. What others deem important ...we don’t. Then it switches over; they check their phone and get distracted, and we’re paying attention. We notice the important things; they don’t.

Whenever you’re trying to get ‘alignment’ or make sure everyone is ‘on the same page’, make a point of having mobile devices out of sight.

Focus, attention, IQ and cognition will be better, stronger and the work will be achieved quicker.

If you're going to check anything, check who’s distracted and who’s focused on the work at hand. 

The cost of leaving the room

What’s the cost to your attention and cognitive load when you leave a meeting room, to step outside to take or make a call?

If we knew, we may think twice about even looking at our devices or having them near us.

Breaks are good, yes, and responding to an emergency, we have to.

But ‘just stepping out for a moment’ creates ‘Swiss cheese moments'. That yummy cheese has holes in it. So will your sense, the threads of understanding you’ve been holding together!

It’s not only that you miss content when you leave, it’s the switch of context and the impact on your attention, thinking and focus.

- A leader stepped out of a one-day workshop six times last week.

- Another leader thought they could be in 2 meetings at once: one via a webinar/online coming in through a single ear pod, but sitting at the table of the other meeting they’re trying to attend.

No wonder why:

😩we struggle to make sense and manage information overload

↩️ we need to go over information again and again, and

🐢why meetings take so long!